July 27, 2026
In his Hindustan Times column, Vital Signs OHT’s Dr. Ramanan Laxminarayan highlights how HPV vaccination and regular cervical cancer screening could dramatically reduce cervical cancer deaths in India.
He points to recent evidence from England, where no women aged between 20 and 24 died from cervical cancer over five years after receiving the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine as adolescents. Similar success has been seen in Scotland, while Australia is on track to become the first country to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem through widespread HPV vaccination and regular screening.
These successes offer an important lesson for India, which accounts for nearly one in four cervical cancer deaths worldwide. Cervical cancer is largely caused by persistent HPV infection and is one of the few cancers that can be prevented through vaccination and detected early through screening. India has begun offering free HPV vaccines to about 11.5 million 14-year-old girls each year, a major step forward. However, Dr. Laxminarayan highlights that vaccination alone is not enough. Expanding cervical cancer screening for adult women and addressing misconceptions about HPV vaccines will be essential to prevent future deaths and move closer to eliminating this highly preventable disease.
Read it here.
